L.A. sues the public

The city of Los Angeles quietly sued its residents in April in an unusual maneuver aimed at ensuring that surplus Department of Water and Power revenue could be transferred to the city treasury and used for other purposes. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.

The April 9 filing of a "complaint for validation" in Los Angeles Superior Court gave the public just 90 days to challenge the city's attempt to transfer $30 million from the DWP to the general fund.

It was intended as a pre-emptive strike to win a nearly decade-long battle over the legality of such transfers that in recent years have ranged from $100 million annually to twice that much.

Los Angeles officials sought to get the court to declare the transfer legal and allow them to proceed without the threat of a lawsuit, although a state Supreme Court ruling last year raised questions about the practice's constitutionality.